Well, I certainly did not see this one coming. The juggernaut that was Germany at the Euro 2012 tournament ousted by Italy. Then again, maybe I should have seen it coming since the Germans have never defeated the Azzurri at a major soccer championship and they simply had no answer for Andrea Pirlo and Mario Balotelli showed his dominant side in scoring twice in the 2-1 win.

Balotelli, who said he wouldn’t overly celebrate any goal because it was his job, broke his own rule after the second goal. He stripped off his shirt and flexed his muscles before being surrounded by teammates.

A photo of him like that was used on Tuttosport’s front page in Italy Friday, which is fine. But the headline the editors chose to use is causing a bit of a stir, according to Tom Kington of The Guardian. It reads Li abbiamo fatti neri!, which translates into We made them black.

“It hurts a lot. Too bad. Too bad. I thought after 16 years after winning Euro 96 in England that we were again ready to win a title,’ Beckenbauer wrote in Bild. He added that “something is still missing” from the German side.

Whatever the case, the Italians have moved on and are now preparing for the Euro final on Sunday against Spain, a team they played to a 1-1 draw in the opening match of the tournament.

There can be no draw on Sunday, a champion to be crowned in Kiev.

Italy is coming off a much more convincing performance in the semifinals than the Spanish, who needed penalties to defeat Portugal after a nil-nil draw.

While the Spanish will be looking for their third straight major title, my gut tells me the Italians will be hoisting the trophy on Sunday. It’s only logical since every time there is a match-fixing scandal back home, the Italians take home honours on the international scene.

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